


Hues of Gold

by mygreatwidesomewhere



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Awkward Crush, Cute, Fairy Lee Donghyuck, First Meetings, Fluff, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is Whipped, Lee Jeno & Na Jaemin Are Best Friends, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Not Beta Read, Photographer Na Jaemin, Self-Indulgent, Well I'm not really sure what ending it is but it's kind of cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24948814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mygreatwidesomewhere/pseuds/mygreatwidesomewhere
Summary: Jaemin really just wanted to take a breather and stroll through the forest. He never thought he'd find a fairy there.Or a short Fairy! Hyuck x Human! Jaemin AU
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno & Na Jaemin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	Hues of Gold

When Jaemin decided to go for a vacation with his friends, he had imagined days playing by the beach, visiting amusement parks and trying out local delicacies, all the while snapping pictures of anything or anyone that caught his eye. He never thought he’d be so preoccupied with helping a little fox cub find its way back home that he’d be left behind by his friends as he walked around an unfamiliar forest, his phone unable to retrieve any signal and worst of all, his camera nowhere in sight. At the same time, he never thought he would meet someone he so badly wanted to capture in his viewfinder. 

At first, he thinks it’s a trick of the light, a figment of his imagination. It has to be. The sight before him is much too beautiful to be real. 

Standing several feet away, peeking out of a large tree, is an angel. Jaemin has to blink a few times to make sure he’s not just seeing things. He wouldn’t be surprised. Given how the Sun’s rays streaming through the canopy seem to converge at that singular point, it could easily be a fleeting image he’s conjured up because of his eyes’ inability to adjust to the intensity of the light. But that’s the thing. The angel is shining, his spectre-like figure being somewhat translucent and yet bright but not blindingly so. He emits a gentle glow that doesn’t hurt his eyes, instead, drawing him in. 

In this lush forest bursting with life, a symbol of all things natural, what he sees is far from the norm, far from what he expects. Still, he fits right in, like he’s meant to be there while also managing to stand out. A new sound added to a perfectly complete symphony that somehow manages to make it sound even more vibrant than before. If he really is just a phenomenon caused by the sunlight, then it would make sense that he’s a rainbow, an array of colours in the wide, blue sky. And it’s not even because of the curly locks of rainbow-coloured hair framing his soft features though Jaemin won’t deny that it really does make him look more ethereal, magical. As if the stars in his big, round eyes and his full, pink lips don’t already make him look unfairly enticing even by normal human standards.

Far from trying to conceal his presence with the help of the thick bark of the tree that partially obstructs Jaemin’s view of him, he doesn’t seem to care that Jaemin is very obviously staring at him, jaw slack in awe. On the contrary, he’s staring at Jaemin too though it seems to be something he’s doing more out of curiosity than anything else. He’s tilting his head to the side, his eyebrows are furrowed and his lips are pressed together in a pout, looking very much like he’s judging Jaemin from afar. He’s seen this expression thrown his way more times than he can count.  _ What the fuck is up with this dude? _ Yeah, that about sums up his feelings towards the shimmering image of the boy. 

A hallucination. A dream. That’s all this is. A spell that’ll be broken once he wakes up and finds himself out of this forest and lying on his bed in the comfort of his own home.

But then he laughs. And it’s enough to breathe life into him, to refresh him, to awaken him. He’s fallen even deeper into the spell, enchanted by the voice of an angel. 

The forest is never quiet. The wind, the trees, the animals - all of them speak. Jaemin knows that much. That said, he didn’t expect the angel to make a sound. And yet his laughter manages to cut through the songs of the forest, creating a tingle in his ear (and if he’s being honest, he feels the vibrations all the way to his chest). It’s much too real for his liking. All of it. The angel and the blood rushing up to his cheeks and the increasingly rapid palpitations of his heart. 

“Well?” he asks, a sly smile tugging at his lips as his laughter subsides,“Are you going to just stand there and stare all day?” His voice is light, breezy, as if the wind will carry his words to where Jaemin is standing and somehow it does. It serves a great contrast to the gaping mess Jaemin has suddenly become in front of a beautiful boy who may or may not be real. 

“Oh...um...hi?” is all that Jaemin can come up with his mind completely blank, devoid of all thoughts except one:  _ pretty.  _

__ The other boy tilts his head, amusement in his eyes, “Is that all you have to say?”

Well, Jaemin’s pretty sure he has lots to say but even when he risks looking even more like an awkward idiot and pauses to rack his brain for more words, what comes out is, “You’re...uh...shiny.”

It’s certainly not one of his most eloquent statements and he’s usually a lot more talkative than this but it’s a weird, confusing situation and that’s kind of the most glaring issue. 

“Yeah, it comes with being a Sun Fairy,” he nods in agreement, looking a little smug, “It’s a pretty cool trick, isn’t it? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” Jaemin’s not too sure how exactly one could get used to it, especially when he can’t so much as wrap his head around the idea that someone’s so easily calling himself a  _ Sun Fairy  _ (ironic, since he was the one going around calling him an  _ angel _ in his head). He doesn’t seem to see any problem in his statement as he flashes a bright smile his way and Jaemin can only awkwardly smile back. This can either mean that the boy really is a fairy or he’s a complete weirdo and Jaemin should run for his life.  _ A pretty weirdo though _ , his mind unhelpfully supplies. Or the weirdo could be Jaemin because, for all he knows, he could just be talking to himself. 

There’s a pause and Jaemin doesn’t seem to be making any move to respond to him so the other boy decides to take the matter into his own hands. Sighing, he steps away from his spot behind the tree and starts walking towards Jaemin.

That’s when he sees the wings. 

They sprout from his back like the petals of a flower in full bloom. Glimmering like a bejeweled, sheer blanket with an orange gradient, they make him look even more vibrant, even more mesmerizing as he takes light steps towards Jaemin, almost gliding across the grass, slowly taking up his entire field of vision the closer he gets. 

The fairy stops right in front of him and Jaemin can’t help but think that he wants to pull him even closer, that he wants to reach out and touch him and find out whether he’s as warm, as soft as he looks. Or if he’s even there at all. 

“I’m Haechan,” the boy introduces himself with a lilt in his voice, “And you’re cute, I like you.” His eyes mold into crescents as he smiles even more cheerfully than before, not an inkling of embarrassment in his expression. On the other hand, Jaemin is sputtering in shock at his directness. 

It’s always been easy for him to coddle his close friends and shower them with affection to the point of his personality being seen as cloyingly sweet and maybe a little overbearing (though he suspects that his friends actually like it). The overflowing love in his heart constantly prompts him to express it towards others. But this...this is unusual. He’s never really been at the receiving end of someone’s display of blatant affection, being too used to the more subtle gestures his friends are more inclined towards using to show they care. He doesn’t really know how to react so he simply states his name and hopes it suffices. 

“I’m Jeno.” Wrong name. “I- I mean, I’m Jaemin. Sorry, Jeno isn’t my name… that’s um… my friend...yes.” 

His face flushes at his mistake. To think he’s so flustered that he can’t even get his own name right. Or speak without stuttering.

Haechan just giggles. Jaemin thinks it sounds like a song, one that he’d like to listen to forever.

“Nice to meet you Jen- ah sorry, Jaemin,” Haechan teases, his eyes sparkling with a hint of mischief, “So, what brings you to this part of the forest? Outsiders don’t come by very often.”

_ Outsiders _ . Jaemin thinks it’s a strange word to use. It implies there are insiders, that this open forest, a natural environment, far away from the bustling, suffocating city is a restricted space meant only for a certain group of people. Or a certain  _ species _ . The word alienates him. Here, he is the other.

And yet, Jaemin doesn’t feel the least bit unsafe, hardly cautious of the fairy in front of him. Haechan, for all his surreal beauty and unfamiliar biological composition (normal people don’t glow  _ that _ much), doesn’t feel like someone to be scared of. His relaxed gait, the easy way in which he speaks to Jaemin and that adorable smile topples down any sense of danger he probably  _ should _ be feeling at the moment. Haechan is a little shorter than him and when he tilts his head upwards to look into Jaemin’s eyes, his own being lit with fascination, Jaemin throws all caution to the wind. Haechan doesn’t look at him like he’s an intruder. He looks at him like he’s a treasure to be discovered, new land to be explored. Jaemin doesn’t doubt that he’s looking at Haechan the exact same way. 

He supposes it’s normal to feel that way when you’re meeting someone from an entirely different species. Not that there’s anything normal about this situation.

“I’m lost,” he answers simply. He really is, in more ways than one. He was supposed to be having lunch with his friends right now, not wandering through a forest and talking to a stranger, a  _ fairy _ . 

__

“Well, aren’t you lucky I know this forest like the back of my hand,” Donghyuck says as he puffs up his chest, “And I’m much nicer to your kind than the rest of my people so I wouldn’t mind helping you find your way out.”

“That is, if you tell me a little bit more about yourself,” he continues, providing a condition. One look into his eyes, full of hope and anticipation, as if Jaemin accepting his offer would be like a long-awaited gift from Santa Claus, makes Jaemin weak. And it’s not at all a bad deal, he’s never really had a problem with sharing personal information, not that it’s logic fuelling his decision as he accepts with a “Yes, please”, completely enamoured with Haechan and wanting to spend even more time with him.

And somehow, even amidst the shiny glow emanating off Haechan’s entire body, Jaemin can make out the sparkle in Haechan’s eyes upon hearing his response. 

ꕤ

Contrary to what he expected, Haechan doesn’t really grill him on his personal information from the get go. In fact, the walk is generally pretty peaceful and quiet at the start, save for the loud hammering of his heart every time the fairy glances back at him to check that he’s following as well as his soft humming. His singing is sirenic, as beautiful as the boy himself, and Jaemin might just be being lured away to a place of no return but he can’t really find it in himself to care. He just wants to keep on listening. He would happily dance to his tune. He could, it wouldn’t be hard. It’s a strangely nostalgic one. 

“What do you think of my song?” Haechan asks, his voice slipping through the silence, not breaking it but instead blending in with the sounds of nature surrounding them.

Subconsciously, Jaemin tries to imitate the drift of Haechan’s voice and get on the same wavelength, speaking softer and more lightly than normal, “It’s dreamy… sort of like a lullaby. Reminds me of a song my kindergarten teacher would sing to us during nap time. Something about sleeping tight and dreaming up all the possibilities we could so that when we woke up, it would be a new day to start chasing those dreams.”

For a moment, Haechan’s eyes widen and Jaemin wonders what was so surprising about what he just said but it passes quickly and his casual, breezy countenance returns. “So tell me, what did you dream of? Did you chase that dream? Are you still chasing after it?” Haechan questions as he falls into step with Jaemin, peering at him from the side. 

He’s taken aback by the nature of the question. When Haechan said he wanted to ask him some things, he was thinking of things more along the lines of where he lived and what his hobbies were. The questions he asked were some he’s still not quite sure of the answers to.

“Kind of? I’ve always wanted to be a photographer and I’m always going around taking pictures but… let’s just say I’m not exactly on track to become one. I’m stuck doing a computer science course in university and it’s not bad but it’s just not something I want to do,” he says, frustration laced in his tone. He doesn’t really know why he’s ranting to a complete stranger but something about Haechan makes it so easy to let it all out.

“Then why are you doing it?” 

“Because it’s what my parents want. They say it’s what’s best for me, that it’ll help me succeed in life and all that,” he says as he waves his hand around carelessly. He’s heard the same words countless times and still he can’t wholeheartedly pursue the path laid out for him, not when he already knows what he wants and loves. And yet, he can’t break free.

“We’re unexpectedly similar, you and I,” Haechan comments wistfully, eyes facing upwards as he looks towards the light passing through a gap in the foliage. “My dad won’t let me do what I want to either.”

It’s a strange concept to Jaemin, that the fairy who’s all sparkly and magical isn’t able to do whatever he wants to. He supposes parents tend to have a lot of power over you no matter what species you are. It piques his interest though and he has to ask, “What  _ is _ it that you want?”

Haechan stops in his tracks and Jaemin worries if he overstepped his boundaries. Granted, the other boy started it but still, different people may have different limits to what they want to share, especially when they’re speaking to a stranger of a different species. Not that Jaemin would be able to do anything with that information or even want to use it to harm him, the power the fairy has over him is frighteningly strong. He just hopes he’s not actually using some kind of otherworldly spell on him. 

“I just want to go out, see the world… maybe find myself along the way,” the tinge of sadness in his voice weighs heavily on Jaemin’s heart. He’s always travelling and trying to see what the world has to offer, wondering if he can capture its wonders in the lenses of his camera. Not being able to do that… he can’t even imagine it. It’s his whole life, his big, wide world that he has yet to see all of. It’s a world he wants to whisk Haechan away to. Without thinking, he reaches out. 

His hand passes through the boy. 

“I said we’re similar but I’m sure the differences are pretty clear,” Haechan laughs. He’s trying to make it seem lighthearted but Jaemin can feel the undercurrent of bitterness. “For one…”

The shimmery glow surrounding Haechan starts to fade- no, his entire body starts to fade, turning translucent before as the glitter falls away like a bejeweled shower, leaving behind a small flying figure, about the size of one of those McDonald Happy Meal toys.

“This is my actual body. I suppose this is more of the size you’d expect from a fairy?” he says as he flutters around, both hands pointing towards his tiny form. “Well that’s just the physical part anyways.” 

“Fairies and humans don’t really mix much. My people don’t take kindly to yours. I shouldn’t even be talking to you here now, much less showing you my true form. After I show you out, you’ll probably never see another fairy again,” he explains as all the sparkles start rising again to resume his former shape until it’s a normal, human-sized back that’s turned to him as Haechan proceeds ahead of him once more, moving more quickly than he was before. Jaemin wonders if he’s trying to build a wall between them right after he himself crossed it like it wasn’t there in the first place. Needless to say, it confuses him but he doesn’t want it to end like that, it can’t. 

“What if I want to see you again? What if I don’t want this to be the end?”

“Against the odds, there isn’t really a reason for you and I to meet, now is there?” The fairy raises his eyebrows as he turns back to give Jaemin a pointed look though the small smile he’s sporting betrays his amusement at Jaemin’s persistence. 

“And yet against the odds, you found me here.”

Jaemin manages to catch up to him, enough such that he can take a glance at Haechan’s expression from the corner of his eyes. He doesn’t really need to be all sneaky about it though, Haechan looking directly at him even as he walks forward, already familiar with the path they’re taking. Unabashedly, no discreetness about it, the fairy erupts into a fit giggles, eyes sparkling, “I suppose I did.”

“You said you wanted to go out and find yourself. I do too. I’d like to think it wouldn’t hurt if you and I found each other again while we’re at it,” Jaemin presses on, encouraged by Haechan’s response.

“Poetic, aren’t you? As for whether it would hurt… it might. Even so, I wonder if you’re still willing to try,” Haechan ponders out loud, playfully tapping his chin, already able to tell Jaemin’s stance. He has Jaemin hooked, wrapped around his finger and completely unable to untangle himself. 

“I wouldn’t pass up a chance to see you again. You wouldn’t mind, would you? There’s a lot of places I want to show you.” Already, he’s subconsciously inching as close as he can to Haechan.

Immediately, he’s knocked back by an invisible force, sort of like a flick to the forehead that somehow leaves him stumbling backwards by a few steps and wincing. Once Jaemin regains his bearings, he looks back up at the laughing fairy who has his arm stretched out with an even more concentrated orange glow surrounding it. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Any closer and you would’ve fallen right through me and kissed the floor. And now that I think about it, this applies sort of metaphorically, huh? Well, either way, don’t get your hopes up too high, who’s to say we’ll actually see each other again?”

He does have a point, nonetheless, there’s something Jaemin wants to know. “But you  _ do _ want to see me again?”

Jaemin has gradually been hearing the sounds of engines roaring getting louder along with footsteps and voices. Time is running out, they’re almost out of the forest. It’s almost time to part.

For the first time, Haechan actually reaches out, his hand grazing (or shining?) over Jaemin’s face as light does. He doesn’t feel anything solid but there’s a warmth that somehow fills him with more comfort than physical, human touch. It’s not like anything he’s ever felt before, it’s not skin but it’s not just heat either because the boy touching him is undeniably another living being. He’s real and existing and just simply there in a way he’s never thought someone could be. And he’s leaning in closer than Jaemin’s ever thought he’d let a stranger get, his face seeming as if it’s going to touch his and just when he thinks he’ll stop at just being a mere hair’s distance away from each other, the boy completely closes the gap and places a feather-light kiss on his cheek. He doesn’t feel soft, plump lips pressing on him like he would have expected from the looks of the boy but it’s like a warm, gentle flame warming him up in the winter. He never realized how cold he was until he felt the boy’s touch and if he gets to feel that sweet relief once again, he’d gladly dance in the flames. Again, he finds himself leaning closer to the boy, even as he moves away, like a magnet that can’t resist his pull. 

“What do you think?” Haechan asks innocently yet with a mischievous glint in his eye. It’s a question and yet it sounds like a promise. One that Jaemin holds close to his heart even as he crosses the dense shrubbery back into civilization, looking back at the forest once more to find the fairy gone though he catches a hint of shimmer left in his wake. 

ꕤ

“You can’t stop me,” Haechan glares at his father, not at all intimidated by his towering figure or his hardened gaze, Johnny having gotten off his throne to stand in front of his rebelling son.

“I’m trying to protect you!” Johnny’s voice booms and the attendants standing by the door flinch, startled by the outburst. But Haechan is used to it and stands his ground. He’s tested his father’s patience several times, all for the same reason.

“You don’t  _ need _ to!” he counters, raising his voice, “You keep telling me that humans are dangerous, that they’re savages but that’s just you pushing your biased opinions onto me! Was mom like that? Am I?”

“That’s  _ different _ ! You know what they did to your mother,” Johnny spits out in a softer voice though the undercurrent of rage and grief is clear as day, “You know what they did to her to find us, to capture us and keep us in their cages and use us as guinea pigs in their experiments.”

“You can’t just generalize an  _ entire _ species based on a handful of cruel people!” Haechan yells back with his hands raised, already so tired of having this argument over and over again because his father refuses to see past the hurt and the prejudice. “This is so fucking stupid. Whether you like it or not, I’m going to go live in the human realm.”

He storms off, his eyes welling up in frustration, Johnny calling his name as he flies past the doors of the throne room. 

He hates that all his interactions with his father have ended like this as of late. He hates that they’re always fighting. He hates that his father won’t listen to him. He hates that he’s not allowed to go live among the humans. 

Whether his father likes it or not, there’s a part of Haechan that longs to explore the world beyond the fairy realm, to find out what it would be like to live as a human like he would have if his mother was still alive, at least during certain times of the year. He wants to learn more about the part of him that’s human.

When his mother was still around, he’d stay with her and his grandmother in the quiet countryside of the human realm where they’d spend every night staring at the stars glittering in the night sky and his mother would talk about how big the world is. She’d tell him about the vast blue oceans filled with entirely new ecosystems, about the busy, brightly-lit cities crowded with people, about the schools where she had taught young children his age, children he would have liked to befriend. She said they’d go visit all these places and meet all these people one day. That day never came. 

And it’s times like this when he misses her more than ever. When he’s walking around alone, eyes damp and trying to clear his head. When he wants to be alone and yet wants to see her and be held by her. When he wants to believe in a future where the fairies and the humans can coexist, a future where he can live in both worlds. His mother always told him he was a gift, a miracle that could bring his two people together, something she (and his father at one point) had dreamed of. He wonders if that’s all it could ever be - a dream.

In the mess that is his state of mind at the moment, it’s instinct that drives him to the place that brings him the most comfort. He hardly needs to think as he summons a flash of light to momentarily distract the guards standing by the portal to the human realm and flies through it before they return to their posts. 

In a second, he finds himself in a forest much bigger than the one he lives in, even the grass looms over him. It can’t really be helped that he’s as tiny as a bug there, he’s just proportionate to the size of the fairy realm after all. If this forest alone is so large, how much larger would the rest of the human realm be? 

Even though it’s physically part of the human realm, the forest still falls under the jurisdiction of the fairy kingdom. That’s why he likes it. It’s where his two worlds collide. Also, it’s the only place in the human realm he can actually visit safely (not that he’s technically allowed to be there). Since his mother passed, he’s never ventured past this forest. He’s just been spending the years exploring every nook and cranny of the place, learning of the plants and animals that have made it their home. 

He comes by to spread his wings and soar to greater heights than he’s ever imagined, to interact with the woodland creatures that go about their daily lives. It brings him peace to just be free to roam in this liminal space, away from the stuffy restrictions of the palace, to rebel for just a bit. And so he comes by often, risking another scolding from his father each time. 

That’s why he’s so surprised upon sight of something he hasn’t seen in a long while. In all the years he’s been here, he’s never seen a human roam these woods. In fact, the last human he ever saw was his grandmother when he was sent away to live with his father for good. 

He hasn’t seen enough humans in his life to really be able to judge objectively but the human boy in the distance has to be the most breathtaking one he’s ever seen in his life, not even the most beautiful fairies in the land could compare. Haechan audibly gasps at the sight of him. He covers his mouth in surprise, catching himself until he realizes that any sound he makes can’t really be heard by humans, not at this distance and definitely not in this form. He pulls his hands down and gradually flies closer to the boy to take a better look at him though he maintains a certain distance, afraid that his presence will be noticed (and worse, registered as an insect).

The boy is even more handsome up close and Haechan can’t tear his eyes away. His defined facial features make him look majestic, sturdy, like royalty but what really captures his attention is the gentle look in his eyes and his gorgeous, kind smile - a smile directed at a fox cub he’s cradling in his arms.

Haechan recognizes the fox cub, he’s played with him and his siblings before. He would sit on their furry little heads as they ran around playing hide and seek. They often stray a little too far from where their mother lies, resting, like how the cub is way out here instead of their usual spot. He’s not surprised he’s gotten lost again. That said, he’s surprised that he looks so snug in the human boy’s arms. After all, he’s one of the more feisty ones who get upset when they first meet strangers. He wasn’t even accepting of Haechan when they first met, often turning his snout away and huffing as soon as Haechan got close. But there he is, burrowing into the boy’s shoulder, trying to find a comfortable position to curl up in, even preening as said boy starts stroking his ears and cooing at him. 

Normally, Haechan’s first instinct is to protect the animals and plants in the forest, to get them as far away from any intruders or predators as possible. As much as he reasons with himself and others that humans aren’t necessarily harmful, caution towards them has still been instilled within him after spending years with his fairy peers. Still, looking at the boy’s long lashes fluttering as he gently gazes at the cub, as if it were his own child, Haechan can’t bear to butt in and ruin the moment of tenderness. He doesn’t quite understand what but something compels him to watch… and follow. 

The boy treks through the forest, never letting go of the fox cub and continuing to pet him. Every now and then he’ll come across some dangling vines or a particularly low branch but he makes sure to shield the fox cub either with his arms or his head and body as he curls inwards to make sure they don’t poke the cub.

Though as much as he’s protective and reliable, he’s also clumsy and Haechan can’t even begin to count the number of times he’s tripped and almost fallen over logs or rocks in his path (and sometimes just his own two feet). Haechan supposes it’s partly because it’s difficult to really look at what’s right in front of him when he has an entire fox cub in his hands that he hasn’t seemed to take his eyes off so far. It might also be because of the bright sunlight filtering through the leaves of the trees that get into his eyes and make him squint. 

Haechan has always been told to never use his magic when humans are nearby, especially when he was living among them as a child. To do so would put him at risk of being discovered. But for some reason, all of his reservations fly out the window, and for some random (gorgeous) human boy he’s never even met before, he points his fingertips at the sunlight on the boy and directs it elsewhere. It’s a feeling that defies all logic, more like magic than the spell he’s casting right now. Strange… but not at all scary. If anything, he wants to know more. About this feeling. About this boy. 

He doesn’t even realize how long he’s been trailing after the boy but before he knows it, he spots the open area by the creek where he spends most of his time playing with the fox cubs. It seems that the little one notices it as his tiny head peaks out of the burrow he’s somehow made in the boy’s arms. The boy notices and looks up, starting to scan the area before he stops and zooms in on one spot. 

Haechan continues to stay at a distance, hiding behind the trees (he’s not sure why he’s doing it either since he’s already so small but he supposes it gives him a bit of comfort to hold onto that sturdy bark). He watches as the boy stops walking a few feet away from one large fox. The mother stands there, eyeing the boy warily, a protective stance in place. Behind her, the rest of the fox cubs hide, some seemingly scared, some a bit more daring and curious. 

He had expected the boy to drop the fox cub and run with his tail between his legs. Even without common knowledge of how aggressive a mother fox could be when protecting her cubs, he had to sense the hostility and danger in the air. The forest doesn’t take well to strangers, especially humans. It’s very much alive, its intention flowing through the veins of its inhabitants. If it doesn’t somehow lead the intruders astray and out of it, it has the animals and plants do so. It’s a wonder he’s managed to travel so deep into the forest. Haechan doesn’t want to think of the idea that he won’t make it out. 

But before either Haechan or the mother fox can make any sort of move, the boy slowly walks closer to the family. Strangely enough, he still has that sweet smile on his face, not visibly intimidated but still careful in his movements, presumably so he doesn’t look threatening. Haechan won’t deny that he’s impressed with how he’s handling the situation. Tentatively, he lowers the fox cub right in front of his mother and immediately, he hops off and snuggles into her fur. Haechan loves watching these moments. He finds them absolutely adorable. But this time, his eyes remain glued to the boy crouching in front of them, watching over them fondly for a while, even as they start to trot away. It’s cute. He’s cute. 

Haechan wonders if his eyes twinkle the same way up close. He wonders if the boy might look at him the same way. The thought doesn’t alarm him as much as he expects it to. Instead, it creates butterflies in his stomach, fluttering about in bursts of colour. If they were to be released, they might help him soar further and higher than ever before. 

Is it recklessness? Or is it courage when he lets these jittery feelings spark a fire within him that burns so brightly he can’t stop his own body from shining? Magic is both coursing through his body and projecting an image from it. Haechan thinks it’s funny how it applies to both the light spell he’s casting to create an even larger image of himself and whatever it is he feels for the boy. 

He’s not supposed to be doing this. He’s not supposed to use magic in front of humans, much less reveal his identity as a fairy. But he finds that he doesn’t mind. He’s strangely fascinated by this human. Even for a bit, if it means getting a little closer, knowing a little more, he thinks it’ll be fine to take the risk. 

He’s always wanted to live in and explore the human realm. He’s always loved that world. If this boy can open up a window to it, he’d be more than happy. 

(And maybe he also really likes this boy and he’d just love to explore his heart too).

ꕤ

Jaemin blinks. Once. Twice. 

It doesn’t do much to drive the sleepiness away, the lecturer’s monotonous droning constantly lulling him back into a daze. It also doesn’t help that he’s running on about 6 hours of sleep over four days. Granted, he’s always somewhat sleep deprived because of how he stays up until the early hours of morning to finish up his homework but this time he’s especially so. What little time he leaves for himself to sleep is often plagued by dreams of a glowing boy with rainbow-coloured hair and a radiant smile directed at him. No… plagued isn’t the right word. Graced? Whatever it is, they’re pleasant, beautiful dreams. If he’s being honest, he would even go to bed earlier just to spend more time in his presence, the dreams being much too short. He wishes he had more time to sleep. Maybe that’s why he keeps drifting off, the fairy’s pull strong enough to tear him away from reality.

Good for him, Jeno, the ever-sturdy anchor that he is, snaps him back to reality with a firm grip on his thigh, shaking him for good measure but only slightly so the lecturer’s attention isn’t drawn to them. He lifts his drooping eyes back towards Jeno who maintains a perfect posture, sitting up straight with his eyes glued to the board and pen in hand, the picture of a model student. The slight curve of his mouth gives away the fact that he’s not fully focused on the lesson at hand though, constantly having to keep Jaemin awake. Not that he hasn’t been in trouble several times already for falling asleep in class but the class has just started and he’s not really looking forward to making a new record for the fastest time taken to doze off. It’s hardly an achievement that his lecturers would be pleased with. Jaemin shoots his best friend a small smile, grateful for his help and knowing that he can see him from his peripheral vision. He’s always been attentive like that.

“Thinking about the fairy again?” he hears Jeno whisper, his eyes crinkling in amusement. Jaemin, in a daze after his little adventure in the forest, had spilled everything that happened to him in very vivid detail which probably made it all the more unrealistic, as if he had constructed a piece of art in his mind and was trying to weave it into the fabric of reality with his words alone. Beautiful and fantastical but just a pretty image nonetheless. 

Jeno was never one to dismiss his words easily, always listening to him every time he went on and on about a beautiful scenery or image he had captured on one of his walks as he tried to express the beauty and majesty of the view he had witnessed though there was hardly ever any need for it when Jaemin would shove the pictures he had taken to his face as he babbled on. But Jaemin always had more to say, wanted everyone else to see what he had seen as he took the picture and Jeno would just sit there and let him speak his mind. His mind which, Jeno would always say, is filled with an entire world of wonders. Jaemin thinks it’s a little far-fetched to say that, he thinks it’s more accurate to say he tends to project certain fantasies of his onto the real world, either that or he makes fantasies out of things that otherwise seem ordinary. It’s probably why he sometimes thinks and speaks in metaphors. And it looks like that’s exactly what Jeno thought he was doing when he talked to him about meeting a fairy in the forest. Honestly, he’s once again starting to question his own sense of reality. Maybe it really was just something conjured up from the depths of his imagination. He wouldn’t put it past himself. Even now, the image of the fairy is strangely clear, not a hazy memory but a picture captured in the camera roll of his mind, pervading his thoughts and etched into his very being.

Thinking about the fairy? It’s not nearly as simple as that. It’s like he’s endlessly trapped in his gaze, in the feeling of his lingering touch. But it’s hard to make Jeno understand so he simply nods at his question. Maybe it’s better to leave it at that. Maybe it’s better to leave it as just a dream, one that will never be actualized, not in words nor any other tangible form. Strangely enough, it’s a thought that leaves him feeling empty and desolate. 

“Sorry I’m late!” A voice rings along with the bang of doors slamming onto the wall, “Sorry, didn’t mean to do that.” 

It’s a voice Jaemin remembers. A voice he can’t forget.

He raises his head a little too suddenly and it’s not great for his very stiff neck but he’s too preoccupied with the boy sheepishly smiling at the stern-faced lecturer. 

It’s him. The fairy. Not anywhere as shiny as he had last seen him (though his sun-kissed skin is somehow still glowing both in a way that is human and yet too ethereal to actually be so) but there’s no doubt that it’s him. His hair might not contain the different colours of the rainbow and there may not be wings sprouting from his back but those are the same starry eyes and plump, pouty lips he’s been staring at every time his mind wanders back to that forest. It’s still the same breathtaking smile. And it’s even more dazzling when the boy turns to face him, even more radiant up close once he’s closed the distance and stands right in front of Jaemin. 

Just like when they first met, Jaemin can’t help but stare. 

He feels a slight nudge to his side that barely snaps him out of his stupor. 

“Sorry about him, he hasn’t gotten much sleep so he’s a little out of it,” Jeno says as he warmly greets the newcomer, “I’m Jeno and this is Jaemin.” 

“Nice to meet you,” there’s no doubt that this is the exact voice that bewitched him and Jaemin somehow manages to get further pulled into his spell, “I just transferred in, my name’s Donghyuck.”

And in spite of the incongruence in the names, the feeling is there, that strange tug at his heart that answers to his voice, his smile, his eyes. The knowing grin that he sends his way seems to confirm his suspicions. 

Donghyuck slides in next to him as the lecturer clears his throat, a signal to stop talking and continue paying attention to the lesson at hand. There’s a thousand questions running through his mind and none of them have anything to do with today’s topic that he hasn’t paid enough attention to to even identify. All of them are put to a halt the second Donghyuck places his hand on top of Jaemin’s, the only part of his body that seems to be functioning, if only to be able to sense the warmth of Donghyuck’s skin.  _ Real _ , his brain screams,  _ human _ . 

“I’m glad I found you again,” he whispers, eyes twinkling, not even trying to feign attentiveness in class. 

Jaemin’s brain short-circuits (again) and only the most honest of truths slip past his lips, “I’m glad you found me too.”

Yes, it’s confusing and strange and  _ what even is going on _ ? But it’s real. His dream is real. And if he remains very much awake, rooted to reality and yet lost in Donghyuck’s very presence, he hopes his lecturer pays him no mind. 

**Author's Note:**

> As you guys can probably tell, there’s already a set up for actual plot to happen but given my very short but also very telling track record, I just don’t know if I can finish a multi-chaptered fic at the moment so I’ll just leave it as a one shot for now. Anyways, I’m still new to writing and I’m trying my best but it’s still far from good and I have no idea what I’m doing so it’d be really helpful if you could leave comments on how I could improve! Especially the dialogue because I have a lot of trouble trying to make it… not awkward and forced. Regardless, thank you so much for reading this (like, really, thank you so much and I’m so sorry that you had to go through that but still, thank you)! I hope you all stay safe and healthy, take care <33
> 
> P.S. tbh this was just me wanting to talk about Hyuck being a pretty fairy (but it smh became the makings of the little mermaid/pocahontas but fairy ver, well in my head anyways cuz this isn’t really the full story haha). Also, it’s sort of inspired by I was Made for Loving You by Tori Kelly and Ed Sheeran!


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